Faith Newton, a consultant with the Resiliency Initiative contracted by the Lake Area Planning Council, presented the final draft of the Lake County Wildfire Preparedness and Evacuation Plan to the Lake County Board of Supervisors (date not specified). The plan, Newton said, aligns with the Lake County Emergency Operations Plan and focuses on evacuation routes, communications, and coordination across jurisdictions.

The plan is intended to identify and mitigate wildfire risk countywide, define common evacuation language and procedures, and provide operational checklists and maps. "This plan structure is consistent with the Lake County Emergency Operations Plan, as it is not here to replace existing processes and protocols," Newton told the board. She said the effort used a technical advisory group, community outreach and a survey that drew 243 respondents; the full survey results are attached as an annex on the Lake APC website.

Newton summarized recommendations grouped into three categories: emergency communications; trainings, exercises and drills; and network improvements (including potential grant sources). The plan documents definitions for "evacuation order," "warning," and when an order is "lifted," and it standardizes closure types — hard closure, soft closure and resident-only closure — so responders and jurisdictions use the same terms during an incident. Newton also emphasized that temporary evacuation points (TEPs) are intended to move people out of immediate danger and are not shelters; TEPs are followed by resource centers or shelters that provide wraparound services such as food, water and lodging.

The plan adopts a unified-command approach that centers local jurisdictions — Lake County, Clear Lake and Lakeport — and then layers mutual-aid support from other counties, state and federal agencies. Newton identified potential evacuation strategies that the plan evaluates and documents for on-scene decision-making: intersection traffic control, phased evacuations, use of barriers, designated markers and high/low sirens. The plan also addresses evacuations for schools, individuals with disabilities and other access and functional needs, and for animals ranging from household pets to large livestock.

Newton said the county uses Genesis Protect for evacuation-zone mapping and that each zone uses a three-letter indicator; residents can find zone information on the Lake County Sheriff’s Office or Office of Emergency Services websites or at genesisprotect.com. She noted maps were developed both at a countywide level and at community-level detail; the community maps are attached to the evacuation plan and available for public comment.

Board members and members of the public raised several map and operational corrections. A speaker identified as Jessica asked why Butts Canyon Road was not highlighted on a map; Newton said she would "take note of that." Several speakers asked that Western Mine Road and an unflagged stoplight at Wardlaw and Highway 29 be added or reviewed for traffic management. A public commenter, Tom Lasik, urged the board to produce a progress report when the plan is next updated in four years: "get some sort of status update… If you had a map of all the one-way-in, one-way-out access here in 2025, we do this in 2029, how many did we fix?" Lasik asked. Newton and board members also discussed 4290 compliance for roads and the potential for grant-funded improvements to create secondary evacuation routes.

Supervisor Sabate asked that school populations be added to the plan because needs and resource requirements differ across the county’s districts — naming Lower Lake, Lucerne and Upper Lake as examples — and she asked for clarity about whether AgPass or livestock passes would be permitted under different closure types. Newton said the team had discussed school-bus use with school districts; she described a prestaging practice used on red-flag days where districts prestage buses and bus drivers where licensing allows. Newton recommended the plan be maintained as a product of Lake Area Planning Council, tied to the county Emergency Operations Plan as an annex, and updated after actual evacuations or major changes.

Newton said the document also outlines communications tools and partners for unified messaging: Cal OES and Cal Fire assets, integration with iPAWS (Integrated Public Alert and Warning System), CAAlerts (county alerting), the Emergency Alert System, Caltrans changeable message signs, and coordination with Lake Transit and local businesses to reduce traffic chokepoints. She said the plan lists potential projects and recommended grants to support improvements.

No formal action or vote was recorded during the presentation. Newton closed by thanking the board and saying the final draft and the preparedness memo are available on the Lake Area Planning Council website; she said staff would incorporate the board and public feedback and finalize the plan with Lake APC.